This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published with the title above at http://www.brookings.edu/research/books/2009/howtoimprovegovernance. The second was published at www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/jun/12/fiscal-transparency-better-accountability-development. The third was published in December 2013 at http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/12/16/fiscal-transparency-policy-outcomes
In recent years, the developing world has seen a burst of efforts to reduce corruption, increase transparency and accountability and improve governance. Needless to say,this is an important and encouraging development. However, the lack of a reliable compass to describe where a country is a given moment, and where it could be heading in the absence or acceptance of proposed reforms, can result in disastrous missteps. The unfortunate absence of such a guide has helped lead to innumerable failed governments or ineffective regimes. This important book aims to fill that void. The book, "How to Improve Governance," emphasizes the need for an overall analytical framework that can be applied to different countries to help analyze their current situation, identify potential areas for improvement, and assess their relative feasibility and the steps needed to promote them. A country-specific analysis needs to be comprehensive, in the sense that it includes the four concepts of transparency, accountability, governance, and anticorruption throughout the cauculus. Without such analytic framework, any reform attempt is likely to flounder for lack of a shared understanding of the underlying problems and of the feasible reforms. The book gives special emphasis to the potential for civil society groups to play a stronger role in holding governments accountable for their use of public resources, and to the importance of developing politically, prioritized country strategies for reform. "Whether one looks at how to increase domestic demand for good governance, how to make government more accountable to the public, or how to build democratic processes that deliver results, the underlying issues are essentially the same....As development actors of various types....seek to help, more and more of them are calling for clearer conceptual framework to guide their efforts." From the introduction.
The last few years have seen a flurry of international initiatives aimed at promoting transparency in a variety of areas of government action. The Open Government Partnership, launched in 2011, already has more than 50 member governments who have undertaken to promote transparency and openness and to allow for independent reviews of their efforts.Transparency initiatives have existed for longer in the extractive industries and foreign aid sectors, two areas that are both sensitive and very important for international development. In the more specific area of fiscal transparency, the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency has brought together key actors - governmental, non-governmental and inter-governmental - to design and promote improved global norms for transparency and citizen participation in the management of public resources. All of these efforts stem from two inter-related convictions. First, that having access to government information, including budget information is a right of every citizen. Second, that transparency and access to information will allow citizens to engage with policy processes and monitor government action, leading to improved accountability and better development outcomes. Research surrounding these questions shows that four main factors stand out as contributing to improvements in fiscal transparency and participation. These are: 1) Processes of political transition towards more democratic forms of contestation and alternation. 2) Fiscal and economic crises that forces governments to put in place enhanced mechanisms for fiscal discipline and independent scrutiny. 3) Widely publicised cases of corruption that give reformers political space to introduce reforms that improve public access to fiscal information. 4) External influences that promote global norms and empower domestic reformers and civil society actors. This body of research shows that while fiscal transparency can contribute to positive development results, such results and transparency itself can not be taken for granted. Many governments continue to resist calls for more transparency and responsiveness to their citizens. And transparency`s impact on accountability relations and development outcomes depends on a host of additional factors, from active oversight institutions to a free and engaged media.
The World Bank is launching a new Open Budgets Portal as part of its efforts to advance fiscal transparency and open data arround the world. High-quality budget data that can be easily accessed, visually compelling and used by a wide variety of stakeholders is essential to inform the decision making processes around public expenditures, and help citizens know how and where governments are spending their money. The Portal showcases a subset of countries that have released their entire public spending datasets and are dissemination them in accessible formats. This information will help evidence-based monitoring, analysis, and advocacy so citizens can hold their governments accountable for more efficient spending and improved services. Access to quality data supports the work of governments, civil society, media and development partners.
